The Way I See It

Over the last 29 editions art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, has dived into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

In this final edition, Alastair makes his own selection. And, as with several of his guests in the series, he goes for two choices. The first, a painting that bowled him over as a young visitor to MoMA, Matisse’s Red Studio, but what will the second be, and has making this series changed the way he sees art?

Producer: Tom Alban

Main Image: Henri Matisse, The Red Studio, 1911. Oil on canvas, 71 1/4" x 7' 2 1/4" (181 x 219.1 cm). Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. Museum of Modern Art, NY, 8.1949.© Succession H. Matisse/ DACS 2019

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, takes us on a deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

Leading cultural figures in the series include Grammy- and Emmy-award-winning Hollywood actor and comedian Steve Martin, the author of the New York Times best-selling essay collection Roxane Gay, one of the founders of minimalism – composer Steve Reich and stand-up comedian Margaret Cho. Each episode introduces us to an important art work in the collection, but asks how our own perspective affects our appreciation of the piece.

So, how does a jazz pianist see Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie? How does one of the first black women to write for Marvel comics see the difficult truths in Kara Walker’s sweeping image of African-American history? What does a top fashion designer decode from the clothes painted by an artist in Harlem in the 1930s?

But we start with possibly the most iconic piece in MoMA's collection - Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. Professor Janna Levin is one of America's leading cosmologists; her specialism is understanding black holes. How does she see Van Gogh's night sky, painted from inside an asylum as he battled mental illness?

Producer: Paul Kobrak

"The Way I See It" is a co-production of the BBC and the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Image Credit: Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, June 1889. Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/4" (73.7 x 92.1 cm). Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest (by exchange). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 472.1941

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, continues his deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

Today's edition features composer, and chief exponent of Minimalism, Steve Reich. As he stands in front of eight steel boxes stacked in pairs, each box weighing forty tons, he reflects on the effect Richard Serra's work, "Equal" has on our sense of space. But does it change the way he thinks about his own work?

Producer: Paul Kobrak

Main Image: Richard Serra, Equal, 2015. Forged weatherproof steel, 8 blocks, each block 60 x 66 x 72" (152.4 x 167.6 x 182.9 cm). Gift of Sidney and Harriet Janis (by exchange), Enid A. Haupt Fund, and Gift of William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. J. Hall (by exchange), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 504.2015.a-d

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, continues his deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

Today's edition features British stage designer and sculptor Es Devlin. Devlin has made large scale touring stage sculptures in collaboration with Beyoncé, Kanye West Adele, U2, and the Royal Opera House in London, as well as designing the London Olympic Closing Ceremony in 2012. She has selected Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ Perfect Lovers - in which two synchronized clocks, like those typically found in offices and public spaces, are displayed side by side. One will inevitably stop before the other. Created whilst Felix Gonzalez-Torres's partner was ill, it embodies the tension that comes from two people living side-by-side as life moves forward towards death. Laycock died of AIDS six years before Gonzalez-Torres's own death in 1996. What will one of the world's greatest set designers see in this simple, poignant work?

Producer: Tom Alban

Main Image: Felix Gonzalez-Torres,"Untitled" (Perfect Lovers), 1991. Clocks, paint on wall, overall 14 x 28 x 2 3/4" (35.6 x 71.2 x 7 cm). Gift of the Dannheisser Foundation, The Museum of Modern Art, 177.1996.a-b. © 2019 The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, takes us on a deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

Leading cultural figures in the series include Grammy- and Emmy-award-winning Hollywood actor and comedian Steve Martin, one of the founders of minimalism – composer Steve Reich and stand-up comedian Margaret Cho. Each episode introduces us to an important art work in the collection, but asks how our own perspective affects our appreciation of the piece.

So, how does a jazz pianist see Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie? How does one of the first black women to write for Marvel comics see the difficult truths in Kara Walker’s sweeping image of African-American history? What does a top fashion designer decode from the clothes painted by an artist in Harlem in the 1930s?

This week we begin with American writer and commentator Roxane Gay, author of The New York Times best-selling essay collection Bad Feminist. She chooses a work by Kara Walker, best known for creating black-and-white silhouette works that invoke themes of African American racial identity. Roxane has selected Walker's massive 11-by-18-foot collage “Christ’s Entry into Journalism” from 2017. Riffing off “Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem,” the piece is covered with ink drawings depicting figures real and imagined, past and present, from James Brown to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Donald Trump.

Producer: Paul Kobrak

Main Image: Kara Walker, Christ's Entry into Journalism, 2017. Ink and pencil on paper, cut-and-pasted on painted paper, 140 1/2 × 196" (356.9 × 497.8 cm). Acquired through the generosity of Agnes Gund, the Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Carol and Morton Rapp, Marnie Pillsbury, the Contemporary Drawing and Print Associates, and Committee on Drawings and Prints Fund, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 198.2018. © 2019 Kara Walker